African music fans will know Traoré, whose modern approach on traditional instruments has set her apart from fellow Malian divas like Oumou Sangare. But anyone with a taste for startlingly original music will be transfixed by Traoré’s beguiling third album. Although she sings in her native Bamana, songs like “Koté Don” and “Déli” have the power to stir and sooth souls anywhere. And Traoré’s daring experimentations with the Kronos Quartet on “Manian” and the title track are wildly successful. One of 2004’s best.

Hailing from rural Tennessee, it’s no surprise that this model-gorgeous hipster has one foot squarely stuck in acoustic country-gospel and the other firmly planted in electric indie-blues. The banjo-picking and...